Finding Solutions
Vision. Our eyes capture the world frame by frame and process imagery in bewilderingly complex ways. I am fascinated by the world and appreciating the seemingly simple beauty that surrounds us. Capturing those moments and that beauty on a two dimensional surface presents continuous challenges that can be improved upon through successive iterations…canvas after canvas. I was excited to begin approaching those challenges in “Fontanillis Reflections”:
1) Contrast and reflections. The dark rocky outcropping with lighter reflections of the lake on the horizon provides the focal point for contrast, light, and shadows.
2) Beneath the surface. One challenge was to effectively show the rocky detail beneath the water and transition as the ground moves forward into the depths.
3) The sky in the water. Gentle ripples show alternating reflections between the sky and the ridge behind the lake. It was almost unnatural to paint such vivid contrasts between the blues and the darker greys….but the eyes process things and figure it out.
While not perfect, each of these areas show solutions that can be built and improved upon over time. The techniques learned through each painting our now part of my artistic toolkit.